The Diffusion Tapes

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our long-awaited eighth episode, we chat with photographer, educator, and analog lover Rashod Taylor.

Rashod Taylor is a fine art and portrait photographer whose work addresses themes of family, intimacy, legacy, and the black experience. He attended Murray State University and received a Bachelor's degree in Art with a specialization in Fine Art Photography. Since then, he has exhibited and published his work across the United States and internationally. Taylor also teaches workshops and presents lectures at various venues around the country.

He is currently working on a series called Little Black Boy, where he documents his son’s life while examining the Black American experience and fatherhood. He lives in Springfield, MO with his wife and son.

In our Tape with Rashod, we talk about his history in photography, his passion for analog, family and being a parent, the business of being an artist, and his thoughts on identity and legacy. 

Thanks to Rashod for spending some time with us and sharing your passion!

Recorded February 10, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Rashod Taylor

Wet Plate Collodion (process)

National Geographic Magazine

Rashod Taylor YouTube Channel

Murray State News

Dominican Republic

Polaroid SX-70

Springfield, Missouri

Anderson Ranch Arts Center

Jennifer DeCarlo - jdc Fine Art

Jennifer Schlesinger - Obscura Gallery

Ken Jansen - Downpour

Ice fishing in Minnesota

AIPAD

Shots Magazine

Gordon Parks

Richard Avedon

Sally Mann

Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time

Michael Jackson

The Diffusion Tapes are produced and hosted by Blue Mitchell and co-hosted by Michael Kirchoff

The Diffusion Tapes theme song composed by Jeff Louviere

Happy Halloween! It seems so appropriate that today we release our episode with the 'wildly interesting" Ed Bateman.

Edward Bateman is an artist and professor at the University of Utah, where he heads the Photography and Digital Imaging area. The work of Edward Bateman exists in a space between photography and printmaking, although his extensive use of 3D modeling technologies is not common to either medium. Using constructed and often anachronistic imagery, he creates allegedly historical artifacts that examine our belief in the photograph as a reliable witness.

In our conversation, we chatted with Ed about his artistic journey, his interest in science, and his love of all things photography, especially when time travel is involved.

Recorded February 8, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Edward Bateman

Wasatch Computers

Photoshop 2.0

The Muse Project (Blue’s BFA thesis)

AI Image Generators

Wet Plate Collodion process

Ian Ruhter

Daguerreotype process

Alphonse Eugène Hubert

Shroud of Turin

Frederick Douglass portrait

University of Utah

Los Angeles Center of Photography

Anne Kelly

photo-eye Gallery

Diffusion Annual

Run The Jewels

Paul Nadar

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

carte de visite

cabinet cards

Rapidograph pens

Garry Winogrand

Jerry Uelsmann

Industrial Light and Magic

American Cinematographer Magazine

Phillip's Gallery, Salt Lake City

Hasselblad 907 camera

Very, Very Hungry (song)

The Diffusion Tapes are produced and hosted by Blue Mitchell and co-hosted by Michael Kirchoff

The Diffusion Tapes theme song composed by Jeff Louviere

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. We spent some quality time with the illustrious Ann Jastrab for this episode.

Ann Jastrab is the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel California. Ann grew up in the village of Whitsboro, New York. She studied literature and art in college and received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then she’s been an educator for multiple organizations, a master printer, editor-in-chief, gallery director, executive director, portfolio reviewer, and master of the universe. She still carries around a wooden view camera.

In our conversation, we chat with Ann about her journey as a photographer…. 

Recorded January 5th, 2023. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Center for Photographic Art

The Savannah College of Art and Design

Maine Media Workshops

Linhof Technika - camera

RayKo Photo Center

Holga - camera

FotoFest

Photolucida

Photo NOLA

Review Santa Fe

PhotoAlliance

California College of the Arts

East Bay Photo Collective

Harvey Milk Center

Carmel, California

Scott Nichols Gallery

Friends of Photography

Brian Taylor

Chris Pichler

Nazraeli Press

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences

Mary Ellen Mark

SF MOMA

Sonoma Valley Museum of Art

Brenton Hamilton

Lishui Photo Festival

Guate Photo Festival

Donggang (Seoul) International Photo Festival

E. M. Forster

The Paula Riff Award at CPA

The Diffusion Tapes are produced and hosted by Blue Mitchell and co-hosted by Michael Kirchoff

The Diffusion Tapes theme song composed by Jeff Louviere

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our fifth episode, we hear exciting and history-making photography stories from Stu Levy.

Dr. Stu Levy lives in Portland, Oregon. He studied with Ansel Adams, and was an instructor at the Ansel Adams Gallery Workshops, and leads photography workshops on the Oregon Coast. He has several books, works in many collections, and is a Portland icon. He’s currently heavily involved with Portland Art Museum’s photography council and he’s on the Photolucida board of directors. 

In our Tape with Stu he talks about his extensive history in photography, music, and even healthcare. Stu’s wealth of knowledge in regard to photo history is amazing and very inspirational. We could listen and learn for hours, which is why we invited him to the Diffusion Tapes! 

Recorded Dec 8, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Stu Levy

Minor White

Surdy-Greebus (band)

Seymour Duncan

David Lemieux

Powell’s Books

Kaiser Permanente

Ansel Adams Workshops

Alan Ross

John Sexton

Michael Kenna

Morley Baer

Portland Art Museum

Paul Strand

Weston Gallery

Friends of Photography

Ruth Bernhard

Jerry Uelsmann

Olivia Parker

Grid Portraits

David Hockney

Polaroid

Bud Clark - Former Portland Mayor

Chris Pichler

Nazraeli Press

Portland Photographers’ Forum

Blue Sky Gallery

Christopher Rauschenberg

Fotofest

Photolucida

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Chefchaouen, Morocco

The Diffusion Tapes are produced and hosted by Blue Mitchell and co-hosted by Michael Kirchoff

Stu’s Portrait by Jake Shivery

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our fourth episode, we share some time with atomic photographer Harley Cowan.

Harley Cowan is a photographer and architect based in Portland, Oregon. He shoots large format and has a keen interest in architectural heritage documentation and historical preservation. In our chat, we learn about his journey into analog photography and he shares some stories from his recent artist-in-residence located on a ship in the Arctic that he had just returned from.

Harley, thank you for sharing your story and just being an all-around great guy.

Recorded November 29, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Harley Cowan

Oregon College of Art and Craft

Ray Bidegain

Portland Art Museum

Contact by Jake Shivery

Camerawork Gallery

Ken Hawkins

Blue Moon Camera and Machine

Oregon Caves

National Historic Preservation Act

Oregon Department of Transportation

National Park Service Artist Residency

Atomic Photographers Guild

Manhattan Project

Hanford Reservation

At Work in the Fields of the Bomb, by Robert Del Tredici

The Arctic Circle Artist Residency

Jake Shivery

Cory Kaufman

Portland Film Festival

Hollywood Theater Micro Cinema

The Diffusion Tapes are produced and hosted by Blue Mitchell and co-hosted by Michael Kirchoff

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. In our third episode, we had a great time chatting with photographer and gallery owner Jennifer Schlesinger.

Jennifer Schlesinger is an artist, curator, gallerist, and educator based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. As we discuss in the Tape, Jennifer has approached her photography, as well as her Director role at both Verve and Obscura Gallery, with an interest in the historical development of photography as an artistic medium. In our talk, we learn how she pivoted from studying law to focusing on fine art photography, her interest in 19th and 20th-century photo processes, and her journey from the non-profit world to fine art photo gallery director. We also learn about her philosophical outlook and her marketing hustle for promoting photo artists.

Jennifer, it’s always a pleasure, thanks for spending some quality time with us.

Recorded November 2, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Show notes

Jennifer Schlesinger

Obscura Gallery

Brant Mackley Gallery

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Paige Pinnell

Alfred Stieglitz

Kurt Markus

Monument Valley

University of New Hampshire

Santa Fe Art Institute

Diffusion

Louviere + Vanessa

Object Diaspora (series)

Pinhole photography

Albumen printing

Mark Osterman

Christopher James

Bostick & Sullivan

Simon & Garfunkel

Rashod Taylor

Jonathan Blaustein

Antidote Photo Retreat

Nevada Weir

Edward Weston Pepper No. 30 (photograph)

Cole Weston

Daniel Milnor

Catie Soldan

Santa Fe Workshops

New Mexico History Museum

A Photographic Life (podcast)

Bill Shapiro

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. For our second episode, we talked with photo artist Molly McCall.

Born in Monterey, California, Molly McCall was raised along the rugged California coastline of the Monterey Peninsula. Surrounded by infamous photographers, writers, filmmakers, and painters, their work provided an indelible appreciation and awareness for nature and inspired her to pursue a creative career in art and design.

In this Tape, Michael and Blue discover Molly’s rich family history in the arts, her varied career paths, her dedication to the craft of photography and the photo community, her life philosophies, and even her interest in motorcycles and guns (eat your heart out Keanu). We even learned she has a strong distaste for REO Speedwagon.

Recorded Sep 7, 2022. These are the Diffusion Tapes... 

Coinciding with this Tape, we posted an article about Molly’s newest body of work Truth be Told over on the One Twelve website. Check out Molly’s Poignant Portfolio written by Michael Kirchoff.

Show notes

Molly McCall

Click! Photography Festival

Photolucida

Critical Mass

Diffusion Magazine

Cibachrome

REO Speedwagon

Kansas (band)

Boston (band)

Chicago (band)

Rush

Lori Vrba

Aline Smithson

Big Sur

Coast

Sarah Healey

Rebecca Koury

San Diego Museum of Art

Edward Weston

Ansel Adams

Robert Louis Stevenson

Al Parker (Illustrator)

The Photographer’s Gallery

Keanu Reeves

Carmel

The Diffusion Tapes are produced by Blue Mitchell. 

Welcome to Season 2 of the Diffusion Tapes. My first guest is Michael Kirchoff, who will from here on out be my co-host!

Michael Kirchoff is a photographic artist working in the worlds of both commercial and fine art photography, an independent curator and juror, and an advocate for the photographic arts. Based in Los Angeles, California, he is Co-Host at The Diffusion Tapes, as well as Editor-in-Chief at Analog Forever Magazine, Founding Editor for Catalyst: Interviews, and a Contributing Editor for One Twelve Publishing.

In our tape we talk about him growing up in LA, how his photography career evolved, some of the folks that mentored him and moments that inspired him along the way, his love of writing and advocacy of photography, and his love for the photo community. I even asked him about his day job working in the entertainment industry of LA and how that relates to all the work he does in the fine art world. You’ll discover after listening to his story that he’s pretty much a YES man and it’s aided in the evolution of his career in the most fulfilling and sometimes surprising ways. 

Recorded Aug 9, 2022. Welcome to the Diffusion Tapes, Season 2.

Show notes

Michael’s website

Alan Ross

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams Gallery

Georgia O'Keefe

Diffusion Annual

Light Leaks Magazine

Photolucida

Plates to Pixels

PhotoNola

Blur magazine

Robert Gojevic

Catalyst: Interviews

Analog Forever Magazine

Michael Behlen

PRYME Magazine

Art in the Raw

One Twelve

Jeff Hanneman

Slayer

The Diffusion Tapes Theme Song composed by Jeff Louviere

Welcome to Diffusion Tape no. 10 with photographer Ken Rosenthal.

You’re listening to our long-awaited season finale. Well, I don’t know if you can call nearly two years of slow-releasing a season, but I’m going with it. It’s been a crazy time for all of us so I’m pleased to close out this chapter of the Tapes by sharing my conversation with Ken Rosenthal, one of my most favorite people I’ve met while publishing Diffusion.

Recorded April 29th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

Show notes

Ken Rosenthal website

Ken Rosenthal Instagram

Days on the Mountain Book

Verve Gallery

Jennifer Schlesinger

K.K. DePaul

Jennifer Thoreson

Snow Hunt

Diffusion volume IV - hardbound

Diffusion volume IV - softbound

Susan Burnstine

Newspace Center for Photography

Photolucida

USC School of Cinematic Arts

G. Ray Hawkins Gallery

Fahey Klein Gallery

John Divola

Robert Fleck

Mark Johnstone

Greg Gorman

Herb Ritts

Matthew Rolston

Arnold Newman

Hiroshi Watanabe

Keith Carter

Aline Smithson

David Emitt Adams

Chris Colville

Mike Lundgren

Dark Springs Press

Andy Burgess

Art Intersection

Center for Creative Photography

New Mexico Museum of Art

Artists for Artists Photo Collective

George Slade

Karin Bareman

Klomching Gallery

Ann Pallesen

Photo Center Northwest

Photo LA

The Photographers Eye Collective

Welcome to Diffusion Tape no. 9 with curator Hamidah Glasgow. Hamidah is a member of Strange Fire Collective and is the Executive Director of the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. We sat down for a nice chat during the 2019 Photolucida Festival in Portland. I’m in awe of this woman and I hope you enjoy hearing some of her personal stories as much as I did. We talked about her youth, her path to art, her exciting and unconventional career path (spoiler alert, there’s helicopters), the amazing work she’s done at the Center for Fine Art Photography, and her involvement with Strange Fire Collective. The only thing I think we missed talking about is our mutual love of good bourbon… maybe next time.

Recorded April 28th, 2019, All conversations are recorded face-to-face. These are… the Diffusion Tapes.

Show notes

The Center for Fine Art Photography

Crazy Horse Monument

The Toast

Diffusion Annual Exhibition @ C4FAP

Claire Warden

The Gallery at Carnegie Center for Creativity

C4FAP exhibition locations

Temple Grandin

Colleen Plumb

The University of Colorado - Denver

Strange Fire Collective

Zora J Murff

Jess T. Dugan

Rafael Soldi

Society for Photographic Education

Elton John album cover

The diffusion tapes are hosted and produced by Blue Mitchell.